Active Mind

“Don’t call me that,” Odell Victor snapped.

“It’s just facts. Science. And I didn’t call you a chimp. I said that man descended from a cousin of the chimp,” Haime Galon replied.

“He blew breath into me,” Victor asserted.

“So you’re going with the origin myth replete with two automatons and a speaking snake?”

“I’m saying I ain’t no chimp,” Victor held his ground.

“I see. The Tree of Knowledge, which should have been the Tree of Reason, is what you lean on, now.”

“Now and forevermore.”

“I respect you, but I don’t have any idea how you can say such.”

“Such what?” Victor asked.

“Such untruth.”

“It’s bad enough I’m human. It’s another thing I’m black. It’s a mark of dishonor to say we came from apes. I won’t stand for it.”

“Then sit down and listen. This mythology—” Galon started.

“Ain’t no myth in my heart. It’s all true.”

“Oh, what, like a pillar of salt that used to be a man’s wife? Or consider the big boat. Aside from all of the fuss about animals ‘two by two’ just consider the idea that a large boat could never be found because it never existed. Not a single cubit found,” Galon drove the point home.

Victor looked up at his teammate. “Why are you even attending this school, then? Why are you at this school?”

“I’m like most of the teachers of the teachers here. Most of them were trained by secular professors. The administration wanted to give an active mind to the curriculum rather than an open one,” Galon explained.

Victor picked up his blade. “I just think, I mean I know that I can sin all I want and He is going to save me no matter what. “Believe all you want. It’s still legal in this country. But I know I can say you’ve erred. You should be able to correct your mistakes before you find yourself in perpetual doubt,” Galon mentioned.

Victor laughed. “‘Mistakes’?! I think you’re mistaken. The beauty is the fact He saves. Society doesn’t. Jesus is love.”

“Yes, if you love war, famine, murderers, rapists, and all kinds of irrationalism. The mercy that He shows is pure injustice and brutality perpetrated against the victims. The compassion you feel He holds for you and your ilk is like a poison that doesn’t exist but you keep trying to make it real only to discover that you’ve concocted a toxin yourself,” Galon said as he grabbed his blade and mask.

“I think you’re really a believer.”

“You feel it. You’re emoting, my friend,” Galon raised up from his seat.

“No, you spout all that science stuff, but you’re truly a devout one who drops to his knees and begs and pleads.”

“What letter comes before A?”

“What is this?” Victor asked.

“What letter comes before A?”

“Is this a joke?”

“You can’t do it,” Galon declared.

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“Saying what you believe is like saying there’s a letter before A. You know what I say? Who cares! Enjoy life! There’s too many curiosities in this world. Why busy yourself with seeking the unknown and unknowable?”

“I know Him,” Victor replied.

“Do you?” Galon asked.

“I know that I have this understanding. I can’t explain it. I just want to be among those who are called. Who keep the faith and not burden myself or anyone else with this ‘perpetual doubt’ that you spew,” Victor answered.

“I hear you talking…but I’m not convinced. And to address your assertion that I’m a believer, I know there’s a whole alphabet that is like existence. I know that I seek to bring happiness into my life. I want to surround myself with joy and gladness to no end without worrying about a letter before A or after Z.”

Victor pursed his lips and then rose. He rose as well, still in his fencing gear like Galon. He put a hand on Galon’s shoulder.

“You may have just widened my mind.”

“Possibly, but I think I just activated it,” Galon replied.

The two boys walked out of the locker room. They found their place and began to spar with energy, focus, and verve.